Dublin has been voted the fifth-friendliest city in the world by travel bible 'Conde Nast Traveller'.

The readers' survey said Dublin was a "vibrant city" that is a "bibliophile's dream".

The capital was favoured by readers of the magazine, coming in with a score of 83.8 and sharing fifth spot with Sydney.

Conde Nast Traveller said: "Apart from being green, lush and very walkable, it's also the kind of place you stop in for a drink in a local pub, only to end up chatting with the locals for the next five hours."

The US magazine also mentioned one of Dublin's biggest fans. "Even First Lady Michelle Obama is a fan," the article said.

There was also a link to an article about Michelle Obama's visit to Dublin last summer during the G8 meeting in Co Fermanagh.

The annual readers' survey placed Dublin in 13th place last year.

But the friendliness of Ireland might have helped the other cities' ratings in the top five, given the number of Irish people living in them.

In joint-fifth position is Sydney, which is praised for having the "friendliest of people".

In third place is Victoria, Canada, and joint-first were Auckland, New Zealand and Melbourne, Australia.

Niall Gibbons, Tourism Ireland chief executive, said: "Again and again our research shows us that the friendliness of our people is one of our unique selling points among overseas visitors." Melbourne is popular amongst Irish emigrants.